SIGN UP

Create an Inhabitat account

Sign up for weekly newsletter

I agree to receive emails from the site. I can withdraw my consent at any time by unsubscribing.

I agree to Inhabitat's Terms of Use and Privacy Policy, and to the use of cookies described therein, and I also consent to the collection, storage, and processing of my data in the United States, where data protection laws may be different from those in my country.

New Kering app lets Parsons fashion students track the environmental impacts of their designs

Kering, the luxury goods parent company of Gucci, Saint Laurent and Alexander McQueen, recently announced a new partnership with the Parsons School of Design that will allow students to boost their understanding of the environmental impacts of their designs. The KERING x PARSONS: EP&L program pilot, launched in conjunction with the new My EP&L App, will be offered to Parsons fashion design students as a way to learn how to integrate and track sustainability into their design processes from start to finish.

“My EP&L illustrates the power of an Environmental Profit and Loss (EP&L) analysis and will assist fashion designers to easily calculate better options in real time in order to embed sustainability into their products at the very beginning of the design phase,” said Marie-Claire Daveu, Chief Sustainability Officer and Head of International institutional affairs at Kering. “As part of our ongoing commitment to advocate the importance of sustainability with the next generation entering our industry, we are excited to expand our Parsons collaboration with a view to sharing My EP&L with further educational institutions following the pilot.”

Modeled after Kering’s real-life Environmental Profit and Loss (EP&L) methodology, the new app allows users to select between different product categories, raw materials, sourcing options, and manufacturing processes to see how each choice affects the product’s final impact score. For example, the app shows that “by choosing between a bag made from French leather with the inner lining in Chinese silk and hardware in brass from Chile versus a bag made out of U.S. leather with the inner lining in Chinese linen and hardware in Chinese bamboo, there is 4.40€ less EP&L impact from the first product decisions, (a 26% environmental savings).”

Students participating in the pilot program will be scored on their design and sustainability decisions throughout the course of the semester. At the end of the program, the ten students with the highest scores will have the chance to showcase their designs in an exhibition hosted by Kering and Parsons.